Mobile transceiver having asset-based alarm profile and a method of operation

ABSTRACT

A mobile transceiver having an asset-based alarm profile and a method of operation are provided. In accordance with one embodiment, there is provided a method of operating a mobile transceiver: sending to an asset tracking service a message including a device identifier (ID); receiving from the asset tracking service an alarm profile assigned to the device ID, wherein the alarm profile defines a plurality of alarms, each alarm including a trigger condition and one or more actions; storing the alarm profile in a memory of the mobile transceiver; and applying the alarm profile.

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/230,820, filed Aug. 8, 2016, the content of which isincorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to mobile transceivers, andmore specifically, to a mobile transceiver having an asset-based alarmprofile and a method of operation.

BACKGROUND

Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) tracking devices, such asGlobal positioning system (GPS) tracking devices, are devices carried byobjects or persons (carriers) which measure the location of the carrierusing the GNSS at regular intervals and typically store the location ininternal memory. There are three main types of GNSS tracking devices: adata logger, a data pusher and a data puller. A data logger stores themeasured location data in internal memory for subsequent download andanalysis. A data pusher (also known as a beacon) sends location datastored in internal memory to a server or other device in accordance withpredefined parameters. A data puller (also known as a transponder)stores location data in internal memory and provides the location datain response to queries from a server or other device.

GNSS tracking devices typically have limited power and/or limitedprocessing resources. Accordingly, methods of efficiently operating anddeploying GNSS tracking devices are desirable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a communication system suitablefor operating a mobile transceiver in accordance with the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a mobile transceiver inaccordance with an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless communicationsubsystem in accordance with an example embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4 is an example shipping container suitable for mounting a mobiletransceiver in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a mobile transceiver housing inaccordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6A is a front view of the mobile transceiver housing of FIG. 5mounted to a door of the shipping container of FIG. 4 viewed from theinterior of the shipping container.

FIG. 6B is a side view of the mobile transceiver housing of FIG. 5mounted to a door of the shipping container of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6C is a sectional view of the mobile transceiver housing of FIG. 5mounted to a door of the shipping container of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the software architecture of the mobiletransceiver in accordance with the example embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a plurality of deployedmobile transceivers in communication with an asset tracking service inaccordance with the present disclosure.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are flowcharts illustrating methods of setting an alarmprofile in accordance with example embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIGS. 10 and 11 are flowcharts illustrating methods of operating amobile transceiver in accordance with example embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIGS. 12A and 12B are flowcharts illustrating methods of configuring amobile transceiver in accordance with example embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

The present disclosure is made with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which embodiments are shown. However, many differentembodiments may be used, and thus the description should not beconstrued as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, theseembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough andcomplete. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout, and primenotation is used to indicate similar elements, operations or steps inalternative embodiments. Separate boxes or illustrated separation offunctional elements of illustrated systems and devices does notnecessarily require physical separation of such functions, ascommunication between such elements can occur by way of messaging,function calls, shared memory space, and so on, without any suchphysical separation. As such, functions need not be implemented inphysically or logically separated platforms, although illustratedseparately for ease of explanation herein. Different devices can havedifferent designs, such that while some devices implement some functionsin fixed function hardware, other devices can implement such functionsin a programmable processor with code obtained from a machine readablemedium.

The present disclosure provides a mobile transceiver that allows globaland long-range tracking applications in which an asset in global andlong-range transit can be tracked even though it crosses wirelesscarrier and network coverage boundaries while in transit. In global andlong-range tracking applications the mobile transceiver and the assetbeing tracked will cross wireless carrier and network coverageboundaries while in transit. For example, it is not uncommon for ashipping container to originate in mainland China and travel aroundSouth Africa with a final destination in North America.

When the mobile transceiver wakes up after a period of inactivity, thecellular service that was last used may no longer be available.Additionally, if crossing continental boundaries and internationalborders, the wireless access technology and RF bands may not overlap.The present disclosure provides methods of operating the mobiletransceiver (e.g., tracking device) for global and long-range trackingthat is power efficient and that extends the expected life of thebattery of the mobile transceiver. This is particularly advantageouswhen the mobile transceiver is provided with a non-rechargeable batteryor when a rechargeable battery is provided but the mobile transceiver isused in environments when an external power source to recharge thebattery is unavailable.

The mobile transceiver of the present disclosure may be used as atracking device to monitor shipping containers. The mobile transceivermay be mounted to the exterior of a shipping container during transit.Alternatively, the mobile transceiver may be mounted on the interior ofthe shipping container and an antenna may be located on the exterior ofthe shipping container. The mobile transceiver periodically determinesits location and the location of the shipping container and possiblyother data.

The shipping container may be an intermodal freight container. Anintermodal freight container is a large, standardized shipping containercapable of being transported using ship, rail, or truck. The containeris reusable and may be used for transportation and/or storage of avariety of contents. The containers are closed boxes constructed ofsteel with enough strength for the boxes to be easily handled, moved,and stacked during intermodal shipping. The containers may bestandardized using one of two ISO standards: ISO 668:2013 Series 1freight containers and ISO 1496-1:2013 Series 1 freight containers.Standard intermodal freight containers have exterior dimensions of 20 ftor 40 ft long, 8 ft wide, and 8.5 ft high. The interior of the containercan be accessed using one or more of two corrugated weathering steeldoors at one end which close flush to the main container's steel frame.The containers are constructed to withstand long periods of transport orstorage where the container may not be opened for months or even yearsat a time.

In accordance with an example embodiment of one aspect of the presentdisclosure, there is provided a method of configuring a mobiletransceiver, comprising: assigning an alarm profile to the mobiletransceiver, wherein the alarm profile defines a plurality of alarms,each alarm including a trigger condition and one or more actions;receiving a message from the mobile transceiver; and sending theassigned alarm profile to the mobile transceiver in response toreceiving the message from the mobile transceiver.

In accordance with an example embodiment of another aspect of thepresent disclosure, there is provided a server, comprising: a processor;a memory coupled to the processor, the memory storing executableinstructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the server toperform the methods described above and hereinafter.

In accordance with an example embodiment of a further aspect of thepresent disclosure, there is a non-transitory machine readable mediumhaving tangibly stored thereon executable instructions for execution bya processor of a server, wherein the executable instructions, whenexecuted by the processor, cause the server to perform the methodsdescribed above and hereinafter.

In accordance with an example embodiment of yet a further aspect of thepresent disclosure, there is provided a method of operating a mobiletransceiver having a processor, and a wireless transceiver and asatellite receiver each coupled to the processor, the method maycomprise: sending to an asset tracking service a message including adevice identifier (ID); receiving from the asset tracking service analarm profile assigned to the device ID, wherein the alarm profiledefines a plurality of alarms, each alarm including a trigger conditionand one or more actions; storing the alarm profile in a memory of themobile transceiver; and applying the alarm profile.

In some examples, each of the alarms is date-based, time-based,sensor-based, location-based or a combination thereof.

In some examples, the alarm profile is associated with an assetcondition, wherein the asset condition is one of an asset type, assetcontents, asset value or a driver profile.

In some examples, the alarm profile is associated with an assetcondition, wherein the asset condition is one of refrigerated container,non-refrigerated container, high value container (or cargo) or low valuecontainer (or cargo).

In some examples, the method further comprises: before sending themessage to the asset tracking service, determining an asset conditionassociated with the mobile transceiver based on one or more of thedevice ID and a container ID; assigning the alarm profile based on thedetermined asset condition.

In some examples, applying the alarm profile comprises: monitoring forone or more trigger conditions of the plurality of alarms in the alarmprofile; waking up a processor from a low power mode in response todetecting one of the trigger conditions; identifying an alarm which wastriggered based on the detected trigger condition by comparing thedetected trigger condition to the alarms defined in the alarm profile;determining one or more actions to be performed based on the identifiedalarm; and performing the determined one or more actions associated withthe identified alarm.

In some examples, the method further comprises: before monitoring,initiating a low power mode for a main processor, satellite receiver andwireless transceiver of the mobile transceiver.

In some examples, performing the determined one or more actionsassociated with the identified alarm comprises: activating a satellitereceiver from a low power mode; determining a geolocation using thesatellite receiver; and storing the geolocation in the memory of themobile transceiver.

In some examples, performing the determined one or more actionsassociated with the identified alarm comprises: activating the wirelessreceiver from the low power mode; connecting to the asset trackingservice via the wireless transceiver; and sending the geolocation to theasset tracking service.

In some examples, performing the determined one or more actionsassociated with the identified alarm comprises: acquiring sensor datausing one or more sensors; and storing the sensor data in the memory ofthe mobile transceiver.

In some examples, performing the determined one or more actionsassociated with the identified alarm comprises: activating the wirelessreceiver from the low power mode; connecting to the asset trackingservice via the wireless transceiver; sending the sensor data to theasset tracking service.

In some examples, the method further comprises: before acquiring sensordata, activating at least some of the one or more sensors from a lowpower mode.

In some examples, the one or more sensors comprise one or more of alight sensor, a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, a humiditysensor, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a time-of-flight sensor, analtimeter or a door contact switch.

In some examples, the one or more sensors comprise a light sensor, themethod further comprising: measuring an amount of light using the lightsensor; determining a door status as open when the measured amount oflight is greater than or equal to a threshold; determining a door statusas closed when the measured amount of light is less than the threshold.

In some examples, the one or more sensors comprise a time-of-flightsensor, the method further comprising: measuring a travel time using thetime-of-flight sensor; determining a door status as open when themeasured travel time is greater than or equal to a threshold, whereinthe threshold is set by a container profile based on dimensions of acontainer to which the mobile transceiver is attached; determining adoor status as closed when the measured travel time is less than thethreshold.

In some examples, the one or more sensors comprise a time-of-flightsensor, the method further comprising: measuring a travel time using thetime-of-flight sensor; determining a content status as empty when themeasured travel time is greater than or equal to a threshold, whereinthe first threshold based on dimensions of a container to which themobile transceiver is attached, the dimensions being specified by acontainer profile stored in the memory of the mobile transceiver;determining a content status as full when the measured travel time isless than the threshold.

In some examples, the method further comprises: measuring a travel timeusing the time-of-flight sensor; determining a content status as emptywhen the measured travel time is greater than or equal to a firstthreshold, wherein the first threshold based on dimensions of acontainer to which the mobile transceiver is attached, the dimensionsbeing specified by a container profile stored in the memory of themobile transceiver; determining a content status as half-full orhalf-empty when the measured travel time is less than the firstthreshold but greater than or equal to a second threshold, the secondthroe being lower than the first threshold, wherein the second thresholdbased on dimensions of a container to which the mobile transceiver isattached, the dimensions being specified by a container profile storedin the memory of the mobile transceiver; determining a content status asfall when the measured travel time is less than the second threshold.

In some examples, the one or more sensors comprise an accelerometer, themethod further comprising: measuring an amount of motion using theaccelerometer; determining a door status as open when the measuredamount of motion is greater than or equal to a threshold and apreviously determined door status parameter stored in the memory of themobile transceiver indicates that the door status is closed; determininga door status as closed when the measured amount of motion is less thanthe threshold and a previously determined door status parameter storedin the memory of the mobile transceiver indicates that the door statusis open.

In some examples, performing the determined one or more actionsassociated with the identified alarm comprises: enabling or disablingone or more of the alarms on the alarm profile.

In some examples, performing the determined one or more actionsassociated with the identified alarm comprises: activating the wirelessreceiver from the low power mode; connecting to the asset trackingservice via the wireless transceiver; sending an asset tracking log tothe asset tracking service.

In accordance with an example embodiment of yet a further aspect of thepresent disclosure, there is provided a mobile transceiver, comprising:a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; a wireless transceivercoupled to the processor; a satellite receiver coupled to the processor;wherein the mobile transceiver is configured to perform the methodsdescribed above and hereinafter.

In accordance with an example embodiment of yet a further aspect of thepresent disclosure, there is provided a non-transitory machine readablemedium having tangibly stored thereon executable instructions that, whenexecuted by a processor of a mobile transceiver, the mobile transceivercomprising a memory, and a wireless transceiver and a satellite receivereach coupled to the processor, wherein the executable instructions causethe mobile transceiver to perform the methods described above andhereinafter.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an example embodiment of a mobiletransceiver 102 of the present disclosure will be described. The mobiletransceiver 102 comprises at least one processor 104 which controls theoverall operation of the mobile transceiver 102. The processor 104 iscoupled to a plurality of components via a communication bus (not shown)which provides a communication path between the components and theprocessor 104. The mobile transceiver 102 also comprises a Random AccessMemory (RAM) 108, Read Only Memory (ROM) 110, a persistent(non-volatile) memory 112 which may be flash erasable programmable readonly memory (EPROM) (“flash memory”) or other suitable form of memory, adata port 122 such as a serial data port (e.g., Universal Serial Bus(USB) data port), a plurality of environmental sensors 130 for sensingthe environment of the mobile transceiver 102, and a real-time clock(RTC) 160. The mobile transceiver typically also includes a powermanagement integrated circuit (PMIC) for managing power requirements ofthe mobile transceiver 102.

The RTC 160 is a low power subsystem that runs even when the mobiletransceiver 102 is in deep sleep mode. The RTC 160 typically comprises acrystal oscillator that provides accurate real-time information, such asthose provided by Atmel Corporation.

The sensors 130 may comprise a light sensor 131, temperature sensor 132,pressure sensor 133, humidity sensor 134, gyroscope 135, accelerometer136, one or more time-of-flight (ToF) sensors 137, altimeter 138 andpossibly other sensors such as a door contact switch (not shown).

The mobile transceiver 102 also comprises a satellite receiver 120 forreceiving satellite signals from a satellite network 180 that comprisesa plurality of satellites which are part of a global or regionalsatellite navigation system. In some embodiments, a satellitetransceiver capable of both receiving and sending satellite signals maybe provided instead of a satellite receiver which can only receivesatellite signals.

The mobile transceiver 102 can use signals received by the satellitereceiver 120 from a plurality of satellites in the satellite network 180to determine its position. In at least some embodiments, the satellitenetwork 180 comprises a plurality of satellites which are part of atleast one Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) that providesautonomous geo-spatial positioning with global coverage. For example,the satellite network 180 may be a constellation of GNSS satellites.Example GNSSs include the United States NAVSTAR Global PositioningSystem (GPS) or the Russian GLObal NAvigation Satellite System(GLONASS). Other satellite navigation systems which have been deployedor which are in development include the European Union's Galileopositioning system, China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS),the Indian regional satellite navigation system, and the Japanesesatellite navigation system.

The mobile transceiver 102 also comprises one or more wirelesstransceivers for exchanging at least data communication. The wirelesstransceivers comprises at least a cellular (RF) transceiver 114 forcommunicating with a plurality of different radio access networks (RAN)such as a cellular network 160 using different wireless datacommunication protocols and standards. The mobile transceiver 102 maycommunicate with any one of a plurality of fixed transceiver basestations (one of which is shown in FIG. 1) of the cellular network 160within its geographic coverage area. The mobile transceiver 102 may sendand receive signals over the cellular network 160 after the requirednetwork registration and/or activation procedures have been completed.In the described embodiment, the cellular transceiver 114 is amulti-band transceiver that supports multiple radio frequency bandswhich may include, for example, multiple 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) orLTE Advanced bands as well as global 3G and 2G bands such as, forexample, a TOBY-L2 series wireless transceiver from u-blox Holding AG ofSwitzerland. In other embodiments, multiple dedicated transceivers maybe provided to support different wireless services, such as 4G LTE, 3Gand 2G wireless services.

Examples of technologies that can be used by the cellular transceiver114 include LTE, LTE Advanced, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS),Mobitex™, and Data TAC™. Other example technologies that can be used bythe cellular transceiver 114 include Advanced Mobile Phone System(AMPS), time division multiple access (TDMA), Code Division MultipleAccess (CDMA), Wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA), PersonalCommunication Service (PCS), GSM (Global System for MobileCommunication), Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD), integrated DigitalEnhanced Network (iDEN), High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSPDA),Evolution-Data Optimized (EvDO), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution(EDGE), etc. Other types of communication networks, both separate andintegrated, may also be utilized with the mobile transceiver 102. Themobile transceiver 102 may also be compliant with other communicationstandards such as 3GSM, 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP),Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), 4G, etc. Theabove-noted technologies are used by example and are not exhaustive. Thedescribed embodiments do not depend on any particular characteristics orcapabilities of the RAN.

The wireless transceivers may also comprise a wireless local areanetwork (WLAN) transceiver 116 for communicating with a WLAN 150 via aWLAN access point (AP). The WLAN 150 may comprise a Wi-Fi wirelessnetwork which conforms to IEEE 802.11x standards (sometimes referred toas Wi-Fi®). Other communication protocols may be used for the WLAN 104in other embodiments.

The wireless transceivers may also comprise a short-range wirelesstransceiver, such as a Bluetooth® transceiver 118, for communicatingwith a computing device 240, such as a personal computer or tablet. Themobile transceiver 102 may alternatively communicate with the computer240 using a physical link such as the data port 122 (e.g., USB port).The Bluetooth transceiver 118 could be compatible with any suitableversion of the Bluetooth protocol including Bluetooth low energy(Bluetooth Smart). Other short-range wireless communication technologiesmay be provided instead of, or in addition to, Bluetooth® including butnot limited to Near field communication (NFC), IEEE 802.15.3a (alsoreferred to as UltraWideband (UWB)), Z-Wave, ZigBee, ANT/ANT+ orinfrared (e.g., Infrared Data Association (IrDA) communication).

Data received by the mobile transceiver 102 may be decompressed anddecrypted by a decoder (not shown). The communication subsystem of themobile transceiver 102 also includes one or more antennas, a processorsuch as a digital signal processor (DSP), and local oscillators (LOs).The specific design and implementation of the communication subsystem isdependent upon the wireless communication technologies implemented bythe mobile transceiver 102.

Network access requirements vary depending upon the type of cellularnetwork 160. In the described embodiment, the mobile transceiver 102includes a smart card interface 140 for receiving a smart card 142 forstoring and reading data by the processor 104. The smart card 142 may bea Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card for use in a GSM network orother type of smart card for use in the relevant wireless network typewhich provides wireless network access. In at least some embodiments,the smart card 142 is a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC)containing at least a SIM and a USIM application. UICC is the smart cardused in most contemporary GSM and UMTS networks. While a SIM card for aGSM network has been described as an example, the term smart card isintended to encompass all types of smart cards and other similartechnology for providing a Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM),Removable User Identity Module (R-UIM) or CDMA Subscriber IdentityModule (CSIM) or other similar technology used in UMTS and CDMAnetworks.

The mobile transceiver 102 also includes a battery 146 as a powersource. The battery 146 may be a rechargeable or non-rechargeablebattery. The battery 146 provides electrical power to at least some ofthe components of the mobile transceiver 102. A battery interface 144provides a mechanical and electrical connection for the battery 146. Thebattery interface 144 may be coupled to a regulator (not shown) whichprovides power V+ to the circuitry of the mobile transceiver 102. Insome embodiments, the battery 146 is a large-capacity, non-rechargeable,sealed battery which is expected to have a relatively long service life,such as 5-7 years of active service. It will be appreciated that themobile transceiver 102 is intended for uninterrupted operation eventhough one or more components, such as the cellular transceiver 114,satellite receiver 120 and/or sensors 130 may be put into a low powermode periodically to conserve battery life. An initialization date orsimilar date when the mobile transceiver 102 was first powered on, e.g.when the battery 146 is first installed, may be used to determine thedate and time of the first power-up. Due to the desire for uninterruptedoperation, it is contemplated that the mobile transceiver 102 may lack apower button (on/off button) in some embodiments.

The mobile transceiver 102 may also include a power interface, such as apower port, for connecting to an external power source 152 such as analternating current (AC) power adapter or the computing device 240. Thepower interface may be a USB port or other port for connecting to theexternal power source via a cable. The mobile transceiver 102 can usethe external power source 152 rather than the battery 146. If thebattery 146 is rechargeable, the external power source 152 may be usedto recharge the battery 146.

Although the described embodiment includes a single processor 104,multiple processors, either in the same integrated circuit (IC) packageor in different IC packages, could be used in other embodiments.

Referring again to FIG. 1, an example communication system 100 in whicha mobile transceiver 102 of the present disclosure can operate will bedescribed. The mobile transceiver 102 typically uses the cellularnetwork 160 to access an asset tracking service (e.g., a server or fleetmanagement system) 200. The asset tracking service 200 may beimplemented as one or more server modules and is typically locatedbehind a firewall 210. The asset tracking service 200 providesadministrative control and management capabilities over a plurality ofmanaged mobile transceivers 102. The asset tracking service 200 may beembodied as a variety of configurations, in hardware or software,including a server-based system, an Application Programming Interface(API) and/or endpoint that provides access and abstraction of thefunctionality of asset tracking service 200 such that no hardware orconfiguration information is necessary to access the functionality otherthan the API location and functional definitions as described herein.

The asset tracking service 200 provides secure transmission of dataexchanged between the asset tracking service 200 and the plurality ofmanaged mobile transceivers 102. Communication between the assettracking service 200 and the mobile transceivers 102 may be encrypted,for example, using Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) or Triple DataEncryption Standard (Triple DES) encryption. The encryption keys for theencryption algorithm may be unique for each mobile transceiver 102 ormay be unique to a particular customer having a plurality of mobiletransceivers 102 (e.g. a fleet of shipping containers, etc).

The mobile transceiver 102 uses signals received by the satellitereceiver 120 from a plurality of satellites in the satellite network 180to determine its position. For example, the mobile transceiver 102 mayuse the satellite receiver 120 to determine its location in response toan alarm. An alarm is a wakeup event which causes the mobile transceiver102, or a subsystem of the mobile transceiver 102 such as the processor104, satellite receiver 120 or one or more sensors 130, to wake up froma low power mode such as a sleep mode and perform configured actions(e.g., performs measurements of location and sensors) which are thenlogged and/or reported to the asset tracking service 200. The alarm maybe a time-based alarm which the subsystem wakes up at regular intervalsin accordance with a predefined schedule among other possibilities. Thefrequency or schedule at which the location is determined may be fixedor configurable as the requirements of the customer dictates, forexample, by changing the alarm profile.

The mobile transceiver 102 stores the determined location, typically interms of latitude and longitude, in a data log stored in the memory 112of the mobile transceiver 102. The values for latitude and longitude maybe specified in one of a number of different formats including degreesminutes seconds (DMS), degrees decimal minutes (DDM), or decimal degrees(DD). A time at which the location was determined is typically alsostored in the data log. The time may be specified using UTC time(Coordinated Universal Time), for example, as defined by InternationalTelecommunications Union Recommendation (ITU-R TF.460-6). Time may bespecified in 24 hr time hh:mm:ss format and date may be specified indd:mm:yyyy format. Alternatively, local time may be supported asdescribed below. The data log is sometimes known as an asset trackinglog.

As noted above, the mobile transceiver 102 may also use one or more ofthe sensors 130 to sense or measure an environment of the mobiletransceiver 102 in response to an alarm. For example, the sensors 130may be used to measure temperature, pressure and humidity, as well asdoor open or movement events, among other parameters. The sensor dataobtained via the sensors 130 and a time at which the sensor data wasobtained are also stored in the data log (e.g., the asset tracking log),which is stored in the memory 112. The sensor data may not be the rawreadings from the physical sensors but may be processed into containerconditions such as door state, container contents, etc. As with thelocation data, the mobile transceiver 102 may collect sensor data atregular intervals, in accordance with a predefined schedule, or inresponse to an alarm. The frequency or schedule at which sensor data isobtained may be fixed or configurable, for example, by changing thealarm profile.

The mobile transceiver 102 attempts to connect to the asset trackingservice 200 to report location and/or sensor data stored in the assettracking log at regular intervals, in accordance with a predefinedschedule, or in response to an alarm. The frequency or schedule at whichthe mobile transceiver 102 attempts to connect to the asset trackingservice 200 may be fixed or configurable, for example, by changing thealarm profile.

The mobile transceiver 102 typically attempts to connect to the assettracking service 200 using a wireless transceiver such as the cellulartransceiver 114. The mobile transceiver 102 has access to multiplewireless services provided by multiple wireless transceivers, each ofwhich provides access to one or more wireless services. In the describedembodiment, the multiple wireless transceivers comprise the cellulartransceiver 114, WLAN transceiver 116, and Bluetooth transceiver 118.The wireless transceivers may include multiple cellular transceivers 114in some embodiments, which may be multi-band cellular transceivers 114.The mobile transceiver 102 could also attempt to connect to the assettracking service 200 using a physical link, either directly orindirectly via the computer 240. Each wireless service supported by themobile transceiver 102 may be defined by a standard or specification.Non-limiting examples of wireless service described elsewhere in thepresent disclosure and include 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE), 3G and 2G,WLAN and Bluetooth.

When the mobile transceiver 102 connects to the cellular network 160,WLAN 150, or computer 240 via Bluetooth and/or USB, the mobiletransceiver 102 can send the data log or a portion of the data log(e.g., an unreported portion of the data log) to the asset trackingservice 200 through the firewall 210 using a communication network 230.The data log information may be sent using any suitable message formatincluding, for example, a proprietary message format. The mobiletransceiver 102 data log typically includes an indicator regarding whichdata in the data log has been reported and which data in the data log isunreported. For example, in some embodiments, the data log comprises aseries of records including and identified by a record identifier (ID).Each record also includes a time at which the record was made, locationdata and/or sensor data, and a report status indicating whether therecord has been reported to the asset tracking service 200. After anunreported record is reported to the asset tracking service 200, itscorresponding report status field in the data log is updated. The datalog may be encrypted using the same or different encryption algorithm asused for transmission of the data between the asset tracking service 200and the mobile transceiver 102.

The mobile transceiver 102 powers-down certain device components whennot in use to conserve battery power. For example, the mobiletransceiver 102 initiates a low power mode for the cellular transceiver114 after a reporting time/cycle. The low power mode may be an off mode(also known as an off state) in which the cellular transceiver 114 isunpowered or a sleep mode (also known as a standby mode or suspendedoperation mode) with low power consumption. The cellular transceiver 114is then activated from the low power mode at the next reportingtime/cycle. Any other wireless transceivers are similarly placed into alow power mode after a reporting time/cycle. The satellite receiver 120and sensors 130 may also be placed into a low power mode when notobtaining location or sensor data, and then activated from the low powermode at the next measurement time/cycle.

The data logging and data reporting cycles are typically different anddo not coincide, although the cycles may overlap to varying degrees. Forexample, each reporting cycle typically involves reporting severalrecords of the data log each including location data and/or sensor data.The cycles may overlap in that location data and/or sensor data may becaptured as part of a common process at some times or may be captured aspart of a separate process performed just prior to reporting logged datato the asset tracking service 200. For example, a wireless transceivermay be awaken for reporting at the same time, or just after, thesatellite receiver 120 and/or sensors 130 are awaken and location dataand/or sensor data is captured.

The communication system 100 is provided for the purpose of illustrationonly. The communication system 100 is but one possible configuration ofa multitude of possible communication network configurations for usewith the mobile transceiver 102. Suitable variations will be understoodto a person of skill in the art and are intended to fall within thescope of the present disclosure. For example, while individual networkshave been represented for convenience, it will be appreciated thatmultiple networks of each type and intermediate networks connected tothe shown networks may be provided. Also, the communication linksrepresented in FIG. 1 can be implemented using public and/or privatenetworks that can communicate using packet data technologies, such asX.25 or Internet Protocol (IP) based addressing and routing techniques.Some connections can be implemented as secure connections, for example,using Virtual Private Network (VPN) technologies.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a wireless communication subsystem 300 inaccordance with an example embodiment of the present disclosure will bedescribed. The wireless communication subsystem 300 includes a digitalbaseband processor 304 which manages functions that require an antenna,and a plurality of wireless transceivers and/or receivers 306,represented individually by references 306 a, 306 b, . . . 306 n. Eachof the wireless transceivers/receivers 306 is coupled to a switch 308,represented individually by references 308 a, 308 b, . . . 308 n, whichis coupled to an internal antenna 310, represented individually byreferences 310 a, 310 b, . . . 310 n, and an external antenna 312,represented individually by references 312 a, 312 b, . . . 312 n. Theexternal antennas 312 typically serve as the primary antennas because ofthe reduced RF interference associated with being located outside of theshipping container, whereas the internal antennas 310 typically serve assecondary antennas because of the increased RF interference associatedwith being located inside of the shipping container.

As noted above, the wireless transceivers/receivers 306 include at leastone cellular transceiver 114 such as a multi-band cellular transceiverthat supports multiple radio frequency bands which may include, forexample, multiple 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) or LTE Advanced bands aswell as global 3G and 2G bands and at least one satellite receiver 120.

While a common baseband processor 304 for the cellular transceiver 114and satellite receiver 120 has been described, in other embodiments aseparate baseband processor could be provided for the satellite receiver120 and the cellular transceiver 114. In the wireless communicationsubsystem 300, the cellular transceiver 114 and satellite receiver 120are individually switched and capable of operating independently.Consequently, the satellite receiver 120 can use an external antenna 312while the cellular transceiver 114 uses an internal antenna 310, or viceversa, the satellite receiver 120 and the cellular transceiver 114 canboth use an external antennas 312, or the satellite receiver 120 and thecellular transceiver 114 can both use an internal antennas 30. Thebaseband processor 304, or main processor 104, selects either theinternal antenna 310 or external antenna 312 for the satellite receiver120 and the cellular transceiver 114 depending on factors such as signalquality and ancillary information from the sensors 130. Each of thewireless transceivers/receivers 306 (e.g., the satellite receiver 120and the cellular transceiver 114) may also be separately powered-on,powered-off or placed into a sleep mode.

While not shown, each of the wireless transceivers/receivers 306 has anRF front end circuit (also known as a transceiver module/receivermodule) which generally includes all components between the antennas andthe digital baseband processor 304. For example, the RF front endcircuit of a cellular transceiver includes a receiver, a transmitter,and local oscillators (LOs). The receiver performs common receiverfunctions as signal amplification, frequency down conversion, filtering,channel selection, etc., as well as analog-to-digital conversion (ADC).The ADC of a received signal allows more complex communication functionssuch as demodulation and decoding to be performed by the digitalbaseband processor 304. In a similar manner, signals to be transmittedare processed, including modulation and encoding, for example, by thedigital baseband processor 304. The processed signals are input to thetransmitter for digital-to-analog conversion (DAC), frequency upconversion, filtering, amplification, and transmission via the antennas.A receiver, lacking transmitting functions, typically omits componentsrequired for receiving.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example shipping container 400, such as anintermodal freight container, suitable for mounting the mobiletransceiver 102. The shipping container 400 includes a pair ofinterlocking doors 410, 412. The mobile transceiver 102 is mountedthrough one of the doors 410, 412 with the internal module 502 on theinside of the door 410 or 412, and the external module 504 on theoutside of the door 410 or 412. Suitable mounting locations for themobile transceiver 102 on the door 412 are represented by references420, 430 and 440. While example mounting locations for the mobiletransceiver 102 are located on the door 412, it will be appreciated thatthe mobile transceiver 102 could be mounted on any door of the shippingcontainer 400, or possibly a wall of the shipping container 400.Mounting screws 610 are received in the mounting holes 512 in the frontpanel 510 of internal module 502 of the mobile transceiver housing 500,and are secured in thread holes (not shown) on the inside of theexternal module 504 of the mobile transceiver housing 500. In someembodiments, the internal module 502 and external module 504 may befurther secured to the container door 412 using a suitable mountingadhesive, such as a suitable double-sided adhesive strip or tape.

FIG. 5 illustrates a mobile transceiver housing 500 of the mobiletransceiver 102 in accordance with one example embodiment of the presentdisclosure. The housing 500 is a two-part, interconnected module,configured to be mounted to a shipping container, for example, through adoor of the shipping container. The housing 500 comprises an internalmodule 502 and an external module 504. The internal module 502 isconfigured to be mounted on the interior of the shipping container, forexample, on an inside surface of a door of the shipping container. Theexternal module 504 is configured to be mounted on the exterior of theshipping container, for example, on an outside surface of the door ofthe shipping container. The external module carries the externalantennas 312. The internal module carries the internal antennas 310, andmost of the other electronic components of the mobile transceiver 102.

The internal module 502 and external module 504 are connected to eachother, for example, by mounting screws (or bolts) when mounted to ashipping container 400 or other asset. A pair of mounting screws is usedin the shown embodiment. A different number of mounting screws could beprovided in other embodiments. In preparation for mounting the mobiletransceiver 102, three holes are formed in the door of the shippingcontainer using drilling or the like. Alternatively, the holes may beperformed in the shipping container. Two of the holes are provided toreceive the mounting screws while the third hole is used to pass throughelectronics from the internal module 502, such as external antennas forthe cellular transceiver 114 and satellite receiver 120 and associatedcircuitry, to be carried in the external module 504 in the mountedmobile transceiver 102. In the shown embodiment, two holes 512 areformed in the front panel 510 of the internal module 502 for receivingthe mounting screws. Corresponding holes are located in the bottom ofthe internal module 502. A hole in the bottom of the internal module 502is also provided for receiving the electronics. The front panel 510 ofthe internal module 502 also includes a light transmissive panel 520,such as a transparent panel.

The housing 500 defines a sensor compartment for receiving at least someof the sensors 130 located opposite to the transmissive panel 520. Thesensor compartment carries the light sensor 131 and the one or more ToFsensors 137. In the described embodiment, two ToF sensors 137 arecarried in the sensor compartment. In some embodiments, one ToF sensor137 may be configured for long-range sensing and the other ToF sensor137 may be configured for short-range sensing. In some embodiments, themeasuring range of the ToF sensors 137 may be configurable, for example,using software. In at least some embodiments, each ToF sensor 137comprises an integrated circuit (IC), a light emitting diode (LED)emitter, and a LED received. The ToF sensors 137 may be mounted togetherwith the light sensor 131 on a printed circuit board (PCB), such as aflexible PCB, carried in the sensor compartment.

The light sensor 131 is configured and positioned within the sensorcompartment for sensing light outside of the mobile transceiver 102through the transmissive panel 520. The first sensor 137 is configuredand positioned within the sensor compartment for detecting objects in afirst direction through the transmissive panel 520 outside of the mobiletransceiver 102, i.e. within the interior of the shipping container whenthe mobile transceiver 102 is mounted to the shipping container. Forexample, the first ToF sensor 137 may be used for detecting objectswithin the interior of the shipping container by measuring the distancebetween the mobile transceiver 102 and the nearest object in the firstdirection, and determining whether the shipper container is loaded(e.g., one or more objects detected) or unloaded (e.g., no objectsdetected). The second ToF sensor 137 is configured and positioned withinthe sensor compartment for measuring the distance in a second directionbetween the second ToF sensor 137 and an inside surface of the frontpanel 510. The distance between the second ToF sensor 137 and an insidesurface of the front panel 510 should be fixed. A change in the distancemeasured by the second ToF sensor 137, such as increase in the senseddistance, provides an indication of an abnormal antenna condition of theexternal antenna in that the external module 504 may be damaged or mayhave been tampered with. In the described embodiment, the ToF sensors137 are configured to face opposite directions so that one sensormeasures distance and the other sensor is used to detect the presence orabsence of the external antenna module. Alternatively, in otherembodiments the ToF sensors 137 may be configured to face the samedirection and measure distance in different ranges, i.e., short rangeand long range, for increased accuracy. Alternatively, two ToF sensors137 may be configured to face the same direction and measure distance indifferent ranges while one or more ToF sensors face the oppositedirection to detect the presence or absence of the external antennamodule.

The ToF sensor 137 may be configured and positioned within the sensorcompartment for detecting objects in a first direction through atransmissive panel in a housing of the mobile transceiver 102 andoutside of the mobile transceiver 102, e.g. within the interior of theshipping container when the mobile transceiver 102 is mounted to theshipping container. The ToF sensor 137 may be used for detecting objectswithin the interior of the shipping container by measuring the distancebetween the mobile transceiver 102 and the nearest object in the firstdirection, and determining whether the shipper container is loaded/full(e.g., one or more objects detected) or unloaded/empty (e.g., no objectsdetected). Alternatively, a camera could be used to determine if thecontainer is full or empty.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the software architecture of the mobiletransceiver in accordance with the example embodiments of the presentdisclosure. The processor 104 may perform a number of processes usingthe stored software I in the memory 112 by interfacing with varioushardware components of the mobile transceiver 102 as shown in theexample of FIG. 7. The software modules include an operating systemkernel 702, drivers 704, middleware 716 and applications 730. Thedrivers 704 include a power manager 706, a location manager 708, asensor manager 710, a wireless framework 712, and an analytics/datalogging module 714. The middleware 716 includes a power/battery/sleepcontroller 718, transceiver controller 720, and sensor controller 722. Anumber of applications 730 execute on top of the operating system kernel702 such as a container manager (asset manager) 727, a configurationmanager 726 and an alarm manager 728, as described in further detailbelow.

The container manager 724 collects and packetizes data collected by themobile transceiver 102, and sends it to the asset tracking service 200through a server agent interface. The packetized data may use JSON(JavaScript Object Notation) formatting. The container manager 724 mayalso receive data from the asset tracking service 200 through the assettracking service 200, which it processes or dispatches to theappropriate module. For example, received device configuration data isdispatched to the configuration manager 726.

The container manager 724 also receives notifications (events) from theserver agent interface about network status. For example, whether alldata has been transmitted and received by the asset tracking service orwhether new data has been received from the asset tracking service.

Events received from the alarm manager 728 include instructions as towhat data needs to be gathered and sent to the asset tracking service200. The container manager 724 follows the instructions received fromthe alarm manager 728 and collects and packetizes the data that is thentransmitted to the asset tracking service 200. For example, an alarmevent may specify that location, temperature, humidity and light levelshould be collected and sent to the asset tracking service 200.

Any data that is not received by the asset tracking service 200 is savedin the file system in memory 112 and an attempt to send the queued datamay be made the next time an alarm is triggered and communication isestablished to the asset tracking service 200. The amount of queued datais based on the capacity of the memory 112. Once the memory 112 is full,older data is overwritten. In some embodiments, the backup data allowsstorage of 100,000 events with each event having a size approximatelyequal to 1 KB. The total amount of memory 112 may be 100 MB. The assettracking service 200 acknowledges any received data so that the mobiletransceiver 102 may discard acknowledged data. Alternatively, the datamay be maintained within the memory 112, for example, for diagnosticpurposes until overwritten.

The container manager 724 also controls the wireless transceivers andsatellite receiver 120 through the middleware layer, for example, usinga Persistent Publish/Subscribe (PPS) interface provided by the wirelessframework, such as that provided by QNX Software Systems Limited.

In some embodiments, virtual sensors are provided. For example, “door”and “contents” sensors may be virtual in that to obtain door open/closestatus several physical sensors 130, such as accelerometer 136 and lightsensor 131 may be used with an algorithm that detects the condition. Thesame may apply for contents full, empty or half condition. This valuedepends on an algorithm that considers the container dimensions andreadings from the ToF sensor 137. As a result, not all “sensor” datatransmitted to the asset tracking service 200 may not be raw readingsobtained from physical sensors 130. Instead, some of the sensor data isconverted by software on the mobile transceiver and converted tocontainer conditions such as door state, container contents, etc. whileother sensor data, such as temperature and humidity is directly obtainedfrom physical sensors 130.

The configuration manager 726 receives, parses and stores deviceconfiguration data which stores an alarm profile, and receives andstores the container profile which includes data about the container towhich the mobile transceiver 102 is attached. The device configurationdata and container profile data may also be stored in the JSON format,and may be compressed and/or encrypted. The encryption/decryption andcompression/decompression, if any, is done by the server agent interfaceand asset tracking service 200. The configuration manager 726 alsovalidates any new device configuration data received from the assettracking service 200 and reports back any errors.

The assigned device configuration data may be stored in the file systemwhereas the default device configuration is stored in ROM. Therefore, ifthe software is re-flashed this would completely update the file systemand delete any assigned device configuration that have been downloadedand stored in the file system, which would then have to be obtained fromthe asset tracking service 200. An OTA update would not delete theconfiguration files saved in the file system as it uses a patchingmethod to update files.

The alarm manager 718 receives the alarm profile from the configurationmanager 726, and sets the alarms based on an active alarm profile. Whena new device configuration is received by the configuration manager 726,it informs the alarm manager 728 so that the new alarm profile isapplied. The old alarm profile may be deleted.

RTC 160 and at least some of the sensors 130 produce interrupts based onthe programmed triggers which wakeup the processor 104. Sensors which donot produce interrupts cannot wakeup the processor 104. Instead, suchsensors, when associated with an enabled alarm of the active alarmprofile, are polled every time the processor 104 wakes up due to any ofthe other alarm types.

The RTC 160 is used for date-based and time-based alarm since it runseven when the mobile transceiver 102 is in deep sleep mode. The RTC 160is configured with the next possible alarm date/time selected by thealarm manager 728 by searching all date and time alarms. Once the nextdate/time trigger is set in the RTC 160, it will generate an interruptto wake up the processor 104 when the date/time is reached. It ispossible for two or more date/time alarms to fall on the same calendardate and time. In such cases, when the RTC 160 may interrupt fire andthe alarm manager 728 executes the instructions for all the matchingdate/time alarms. It is possible for the next date or time alarm to bedue while processing an RTC interrupt generated alarm. For example, thiscan occur if the processing for a date alarm takes 3 minutes but thenext time alarm is in 2 minutes. In such cases, the alarm manager 728process the due alarm, as if it had triggered an interrupt, beforeprogramming the RTC 160 with the next date/time.

For maximum flexibility date-based and time-based alarms may bespecified in local time based on container current location, specifiedusing UTC time (Coordinated Universal Time), for example, as defined byInternational Telecommunications Union Recommendation (ITU-R TF.460-6).For simplicity, alarms may be limited to UTC time. To simplify timetracking, the RTC may be programmed with UTC time with all alarm eventsshould be configured in UTC time. Time may be specified in 24 hr timehh:mm:ss format and date may be specified in dd:mm:yyyy format.Alternatively, date-based and time-based alarms may be specified in agiven time zone, for example, the time zone for the customerheadquarters. When local time is supported, UTC time can be converted tolocal time based on the time zone in which the container is located forRTC setup (for example, based on the time zone indicated by the cellularnetwork) and alarm processing.

The alarm manager 728 configures the interrupt capable sensors based onthe active alarm profile and possibly the enabled/disable status of thealarms in the active alarm profile, if supported. The sensors send aninterrupt signal to wake up the alarm manager 728 when a triggercondition is detected. The alarm manager 728 wakes up and handles theinterrupt, sending the corresponding event to the container manager 724with the action instructions.

It is possible for two or more sensor alarms to be triggered at the sametime, since a sensor value may satisfy the condition parameters for morethan one alarm. In such cases, the alarm manager gathers the actioninstructions for all the matching alarms.

Nested alarm interrupts are also possible. For example, while processingan interrupt from the RTC 160 or sensor 130 another interrupt may betriggered. The alarm manager 728 handles each interrupt by queueing theinterrupt requests and processing the requests in order. To facilitateprocessing and avoid endless loops, interrupts being processed may beacknowledged and re-enabled only after all processing is completed.After processing all triggered alarms, the alarm manager 728 may examinefuture alarm events and choose to process the future alarm events ifscheduled to happen within a short period of time. This avoids waking upshortly after going to deep sleep.

The Power/Sleep/Battery Controller 718 provides the functions formanaging the device power, battery and sleep mode, which may beimplemented as an API that interfaces with the drivers. ThePower/Sleep/Battery Controller 718 comprises three submodules a powermanger, a battery manager, and a sleep manager. The power mangerperforms power management, such as setting correct voltage levels andCPU frequency to save device power consumption based on load.

The battery manager detects that a low battery level has been reachedand the remaining expected battery life is below a critical threshold.When below the critical threshold, this condition will be sent to theasset tracking service 200. The battery manager may also provide a fuelgauge which provides battery status, charge level percentage, currentvoltage, consumption rate, expected life expectancy, etc. Alternately,if no fuel gauge is available, the battery manager will provide whateverinformation can be obtained, if any, for example, by reading the voltagelevel if possible.

The sleep manager performs the setting of the hardware into sleep mode.The container, configuration and alarm managers inform the sleep managerwhether the modules are active or idle by using an API provided by thesleep manager. For this purpose, a shared memory semaphore, a sharedmemory bit map, an API interface, etc. may be used. Activity on the dataport 122 indicates that a manufacturing tests and/or user debugging isbeing run, and that mobile transceiver 102 should not go to sleep.

To enter sleep in some embodiments, the wireless transceivers arepowered off, some sensors may be powered off (for example, if there areno enabled alarms currently triggering on them), watchdog functions aredisabled, the RTC 160 is to run and the device is set to run using thelow speed clock, and the processor is set to sleep. The satellitereceiver 120 is kept awake. Alternatively, the satellite receiver 120may be powered off.

The alarm manager 728 sends the event to end sleep. Alarms triggered byinterrupts are used to wake up the processor 104 from sleep. To completethe wake up, an event or a software interrupt is sent from the alarmmanager 728 to the sleep manager. The container manager 724 and theconfiguration manager 726 inform the sleep manager that the modules areactive as soon as events are received and the modules are waken up. Whenall processing has been completed by the modules, the modules sendnotifications to the sleep manager 728 that the modules have completedprocessing and ready to sleep.

To exit sleep in some embodiments, the wireless transceivers are poweredon, some sensors that were powered off are powered on if needed by theactive alarm profile, watchdog functions are enabled if needed, the RTC160 is to run, the device is set to run using the high speed clock, andthe processor is awaken. The satellite receiver 120 may be awaken ifpowered off and if needed.

Alternatively, the wireless transceivers power on/off determinationcould be implemented in the container manager 726 since it will knowwhen the wireless transceiver is needed and when it may be turned off.

Asset-Based Alarm Profile and a Method of Operation

The mobile transceiver 102 is intended to be attached to, orincorporated in, a moveable asset to track its location using asatellite receiver 120 and/or sense or measure other conditions, such astemperature, humidity, general operating conditions, average speed,maximum speed, content status, door open or closed condition, etc. usingthe sensors 130. The asset tracked by the mobile transceiver 102 may bea shipping container, truck, rail car, automobile, etc.

FIG. 8 illustrates a plurality of deployed mobile transceivers 102 incommunication with the asset tracking service 200. Each of the mobiletransceivers 102 is mounted to a container having an associated ID, suchas 123-101, 123-102, 123-103 and 123-104 in the shown example. Thecontainers are loaded on a truck for transport between an origin 802,such as warehouse, and a destination 804, such as a factory or store,possibly with a number of intermediate waypoints in between. Thecontainers may be transported along a predefined route. The predefinedroute may be defined in a travel itinerary that defines a number ofwaypoints (e.g., locations) including the origin, destination andpossibly a number of intermediate waypoints along the intended route.Each waypoint corresponds to a location or geographical area along theintended route.

The mobile transceivers 102 are used to gather information about thecontainer or other asset being monitored and send this information backto the asset tracking service 200 from time-to-time. The data which isgathered and the frequently of the reporting may vary based on trackingrequirements. For example, when the mobile transceiver 102 is batteryoperated, longer battery life may be preferred over more frequentupdates in some applications. However, in other applications morefrequent updates may be preferred at the expense of battery life. Foranother example, data provided by some of the sensors 130 may not beused in some applications. However, in other applications more frequentand/or stringent sensor data updates may be desired. For yet anotherexample, a group of managed mobile transceivers 102 may have the sametracking requirements in some applications. However, in otherapplications different mobile transceivers 102 in a group of managedmobile transceivers 102 may have different tracking requirements.

The present disclosure uses alarm profiles to allow for diversecustomization of the operation of the mobile transceiver 102. The alarmprofile to be applied by a particular mobile transceiver 102 may beupdated while the mobile transceiver 102 is in the field, for example,over-the-air (OTA) using a wireless transceiver such as the cellulartransceiver 114. The present disclosure also provides a method, systemand related devices that allow new or different alarm profiles to beindividually assigned and applied to individual mobile transceivers 102deployed in the environment to meet the specific tracking requirements.

Each alarm profile defines one or more number of alarms. As described inmore detailed below, the alarms are defined by a trigger type, a triggercondition to be satisfied for the alarm to be triggered, and one or moreactions to take when the alarm is triggered. The alarm types aredate-based, time-based, sensor-based, location-based (e.g., geofence) ora combination thereof. The alarms associated with an active alarmprofile may be active (enabled) or inactive (disabled) and alarms may beenabled or disabled by other alarms that have been triggered. Forexample, if the temperature surpasses a trigger point, another alarm maybe enabled to trigger if the temperature decreases below a lower value.Disabled/inactive alarms in the active alarm profile are ignored.

Each alarm profile specifies the functionality of the mobile transceiver102, including the functionality of the cellular transceiver 114,satellite receiver 120 and/or sensors 130 with respect to data loggingand reporting activities. Each alarm profile defines a differentoperational profile of the mobile transceiver 102, including when andwhat data (e.g., location and/or sensor data) is to be measured, storedand transmitted to the asset tracking service 200. New alarm profilesmay be created as needed based on customer requirements. The deviceconfiguration and alarm profile associated therewith may be managed as avalue added service provided by a third party service provider whomaintains or controls the asset tracking service 200, or the deviceconfiguration may be managed directly by users.

In some examples, the alarm profiles are associated with an assetcondition. The asset condition may be any one of an asset type, assetcontents, asset value or driver profile in some embodiments. In otherembodiments, the asset condition may be any one of a route, location,sensor data (e.g., temperature, humidity, door open/closed, etc.), time,alarm status (e.g., whether any alarms triggered, alarms that aretriggered), asset type, asset contents, asset value, driver profile orother asset condition.

The asset types may include cargo/container or vehicle, or morespecifically oil truck, milk truck, service truck, freight truck,taxi/limo, rental car, intermodal container, crate, tank container, gastank, insulated shipping container, flexible intermediate bulkcontainer, intermediate bulk container, etc.

The asset contents may include, refrigerated, non-refrigerated,perishable, dry good cargo, farm produce, construction materials,logging goods, oil, weapons, aviation contents, flammable liquids,liquid hydrogen or other super cooled liquids, poisonousmaterials/liquids, radioactive materials, explosive, radioactive,confidential documents, poisonous, flammable, perishable, dry goods,logs/woods, etc.

The asset value may be high value or low value (or non-high value).

The driver profile may be good, bad or other rating.

In other examples, the alarm profile may be associated with a travelmode describing a mode of transportation being taken. The travel modesmay include, but are not limited to, “Rail”, “Ship”, “Street”, “Dock”,“Home”, “Warehouse”, “Distribution Centre”, “Outside”, “Inside”,“Parked”, etc.

A number of predefined alarm profiles may be provided by the assettracking service 200, each associated with the asset condition. Apredefined alarm profile associated with the asset condition may then beselected and assigned to a mobile transceiver 102, for example, by theasset tracking service 200.

Each mobile transceiver 102 is associated within an asset, which may beidentified by an asset ID (e.g., container ID). The asset trackingservice 200 maintains records of the device to asset relationships, forexample, based on device ID and container ID. This information may bestored in an asset database (not shown). The asset tracking service 200may automatically assign an alarm profile based on the asset condition,which may be specified in an asset profile (e.g., container profile)stored by the asset tracking service 200 in the asset database. Thecontainer profile includes data describing the asset to which the mobiletransceiver 102 is to be attached. For example, the container profilemay comprise a container ID (e.g., serial number) and one or more of acontainer type, container dimensions, container cargo/containers,container owner and possibly other data from which an asset conditionmay be determined. Alternatively, the asset condition may be explicitlydefined in the container profile.

The process of automatically assigning an alarm profile to a mobiletransceiver 102 may comprise determining the container ID from thedevice ID, determining asset condition associated with the container(for example, using the container ID mapped to the mobile transceiver102 and the associated container profile), and determining the alarmprofile to be used based on the asset condition. If a single mapping ismaintained, the alarm profile ID may be determined directly from thedevice ID.

The device configuration, including the alarm profile, assigned to eachasset/device is downloaded over the air to the mobile transceiver 102from the asset tracking service 200 once the asset tracking service 200establishes communication with the mobile transceiver 102.

In some embodiments, predefined alarms may be customized by a systemadministrator or a custom alarm profile may be created by a systemadministrator.

Alternatively, an alarm profile based on the asset condition may beassigned by a system administrator rather than the asset trackingservice 200. For example, assets may be shown on a user interface screenin the following format when the asset tracking service is accessed viaa web-based portal:

Asset ID Alarm Profile 123-101 Refrigerated Container 123-102Refrigerated Container 123-103 Low Value Cargo 123-104 High Value Cargo123-105 Not Assigned

The system administrator may then assign an appropriate alarm profilebased on the asset condition via interfacing with the user interface.

In some embodiments, multiple alarm profiles may be stored in the memory112 of the mobile transceiver 102 in some embodiments, with one of thealarm profiles being set as the active alarm profile. The mobiletransceiver 102 may set one of the one or more stored alarm profiles asan active alarm profile in response to a message or instruction from theasset tracking service 200 to change the tracking functionality of themobile transceiver 102. In some embodiments, a number of alarm profilesmay be set along with a date and/or time to be applied based on each legof a multi-alarm profile route for the asset.

The provision of a number of selectable pre-configured alarm profiles isadvantageous in that the mobile transceiver 102 may be configured in animproved manner than obviates the need to configure every sensor, etc.This is also advantageous in that common hardware may be used anddeployed, with functionality of any one or more of the mobiletransceivers 102 capable of being changed dynamically in the field,thereby decreasing the cost of production and support. While there is acost associated with acquiring hardware having features that may notalways be used, this cost may be outweighed by the cost savings achievedby obviating the need to remove hardware in the field and replace itwith hardware having the desired hardware, thereby reducing the totalcost of ownership (TCO).

The provision of a number of selectable pre-configured alarm profiles isalso advantageous in that different alarm profiles may be used withoutupdating the device software each time an alarm profile is to bechanged. This avoids downloading different software and/or deviceconfigurations each time the alarm profile for an asset changes, therebyconserving power and computing resources and allowing the functionalityof the mobile transceiver 102 to be highly configurable. This is alsoadvantageous in that common software may be used and deployed, withfunctionality of any one or more of the mobile transceivers 102 capableof being changed dynamically in the field, again decreasing the cost ofproduction and support. The cost savings achieved by obviating the needto remove hardware in the field and either update its software orreplace it with hardware having the desired software, further therebyreducing the TCO.

Furthermore, the active alarm profile is typically selected by the assettracking service 200, thereby conserving power and computing resourcesof the mobile transceiver 102 by allowing the mobile transceiver 102 toserve as a thin client. The use of a server-specified alarm profile alsoallows centralized control over a group (or fleet) of managed devices,further reducing the TCO as well as allowing either individual, remotecontrol of a particular mobile transceiver 102 or synchronized, remotecontrol of a group of managed devices.

FIG. 9A shows an example flowchart of a method 900 of setting anassigned device configuration for a mobile transceiver 102 such as aGNSS tracking device in accordance with one example embodiment of thepresent disclosure. The method may be carried out by software executedby a processor of the mobile transceiver 102. Coding of software forcarrying out such a method 900 is within the scope of a person ofordinary skill in the art provided the present disclosure. The method900 may contain additional or fewer processes than shown and/ordescribed, and may be performed in a different order in otherembodiments. Machine readable code executable by the processor toperform the method 900 may be stored in a machine readable medium suchas a memory of the mobile transceiver 102.

At 902, a default device configuration is installed on the mobiletransceiver 102, for example, by storing in the memory 112. The defaultdevice configuration may be installed at the factory or another timeprior to deployment in the field. The default device configurationincludes at least enough information to communicate with the assettracking service 200 at a first power-up since communications aretypically initiated by the mobile transceiver 102 rather than the assettracking service 200 to conserve battery life. Once communication isestablished, an assigned device configuration including an assignedalarm profile associated with the asset being tracked can be downloadedfrom the asset tracking service 200 for use instead of the defaultdevice configuration.

The default and assigned device configurations are defined by one ormore device configuration files. The default device configuration mayinclude other data only needed at the first power-up. For example, thedefault device configuration may indicate that one or more LEDs beflashed on power-up to provide a notification that the mobiletransceiver 102 is powered on and/or connecting (or connected) to theasset tracking service 200.

The device configuration data may define a default alarm profiledefining one or more alarms. The following table has an example of thedefault configuration file, which wakes up every 15 minutes and tries tocommunicate with the asset tracking service 200.

Alarm Trigger Condition Number Type Parameters Action(s) when conditionmet 1 Time Wake up every 15 Send message indicating device minutes isusing default configuration.

The device configuration data may also include a Uniform ResourceLocator (URL) of the asset tracking service 200 if not stored elsewhere.The device configuration data may also include a device configurationidentifier (ID) such as a name to identify it from other differentconfigurations. The device configuration data may also include otherdata such as sensor configurations, wireless transceiver configurations,allowed radio technologies, roaming rules, and one or more geolocations.If any of sensor configurations, wireless transceiver configurations,allowed radio technologies, roaming rules are not defined in theassigned device configuration, default values from the default deviceconfiguration are used.

The default device configuration may be stored in the ROM 110 so that abackup of the default device configuration is always available in theevent that the assigned device configuration becomes corrupted, deletedor lost. Also, if the device software is re-flashed, this would updatethe default device configuration as it would be embedded with the devicesoftware.

In normal operation, when the mobile transceiver 102 is initiallypowered up and used, for example when the battery 146 is first connectedafter the mobile transceiver 102 is installed and/or mounted to theasset being tracked, the mobile transceiver 102 operates in accordancewith the default device configuration. The configuration manager 426executing on the mobile transceiver 102 loads the default deviceconfiguration and causes the mobile transceiver 102 to operate based onthe default device configuration.

As noted above, the default configuration typically includes a defaultalarm profile which specifies that the mobile transceiver 102 wakes upperiodically, for example every fifteen minutes or other reasonableinterval, and attempts to establish communication with the assettracking service 200. To save battery life, the default alarm profilemay specify that after a threshold duration, for example one hour, thatthe mobile transceiver 102 wake up at progressively longer intervals,for example every hour or even once a day, until the first communicationwith the asset tracking service 200 occurs. This progressively longerwake up period may be overridden by disconnecting the power source (e.g.battery) or alternatively by toggling a power button on/off (if oneexists) or pressing a reset button (if one exists).

In other embodiments, the default device configuration may not include adefault alarm profile. For example, the default device configuration mayspecify that the mobile transceiver 102 attempt to establishcommunication with the asset tracking service 200 until the firstcommunication is established, or until a threshold duration of time haslapsed without establishing communication at which time the mobiletransceiver 102 may power off until the battery 146 is removed andreinstalled (which the mobile transceiver 102 retreats as a firstpower-up), a power button is toggled on/off (if one exists) or a resetbutton is pressed (if one exists).

At 904, the mobile transceiver 102 establishes communication with (e.g.,connects to) the asset tracking service 200 over the Internet, typicallyvia the cellular transceiver 114.

At 906, the mobile transceiver 102 sends a message to the asset trackingservice 200 which includes identifying device information about themobile transceiver 102. The identifying device information may comprisethe device ID. The device ID may be a PIN, IMEI of the wireless cellulartransceiver 114, MAC address or other unique ID. The message may includeonly the device ID since the device configuration assigned to the mobiletransceiver 102 can be determined based solely on the device ID.However, the message may optionally include location and/or sensor datacaptured by the mobile transceiver 102 after the first power-up.

At 908, the asset tracking service 200 identifies the mobile transceiver102 based on the device ID.

At 910, the asset tracking service 200 determines whether the mobiletransceiver 102 is using a default configuration. This determination maybe based, for example, on a device configuration ID in the message orinformation about the mobile transceiver maintained by the assettracking service 200. For example, the asset tracking service 200 maydetermine that the mobile transceiver 102 is using a defaultconfiguration based on the device ID when the mobile transceiver 102 ison its first power-up. The asset tracking service 200 may determine thatthe mobile transceiver 102 is on its first power-up in many ways,including the lack of any previous message or communication from themobile transceiver 102 (based on its device ID) or possibly otherinformation in the message.

At 912, when the mobile transceiver 102 is determined by the assettracking service 200 to be using the default device configuration, anassigned device configuration assigned to the mobile the mobiletransceiver 102 and an associated asset profile (e.g., containerprofile) is determined based on the device ID by comparing to the deviceID to an asset database (not shown). The assigned device configurationdefines an alarm profile and possibly other data, as described above.

When the asset profile is a container profile, the container profilecomprises data including a container ID (e.g., serial number) and one ormore of a container type, container dimensions, and container owner andpossibly other data. The container profile is stored in a containerprofile file downloaded from the asset tracking service 200. When amobile transceiver 102 is linked to a specific container by the assettracking service 200, the container profile is obtained and stored bythe asset tracking service 200. The container dimensions may be used bythe ToF sensor 137, for example, to determine whether the status of thecontents of the container or the door status.

At 914, the mobile transceiver 102 downloads the assigned deviceconfiguration and asset profile (e.g., container profile).

At 916, after the assigned device configuration and container profileare downloaded, the configuration manager 426 executing on the mobiletransceiver 102 receives the assigned device configuration and theassociated alarm profile, and stores it in memory, such as the memory112, typically in the file system. The configuration manager 426 alsoparses the assigned device configuration to determine one or more alarmsto be applied based on the alarm profile of the assigned deviceconfiguration, and passes the alarms to the alarm manager 428.

Referring to FIG. 8, in one example the device configuration may specifythat the asset being tracked is a refrigerated container 123-101 inwhich the mobile transceiver 102 may be required to check thetemperature sensor 132 more often and at different triggers than anon-refrigerated container. The asset tracking service 200 may transmitthe refrigerated container alarm profile via the cellular network 160 tothe mobile transceiver 102 mounted to the container 123-101. Therefrigerate container alarm profile may contain instructions to sendupdates if the temperature increases above a certain value, for example32° F., and/or if the door is opened. Updates may not be sent otherwise.An example alarm profile for a refrigerated asset is as presented in thetable below.

Trigger Condition Action(s) when Number Alarm Type Parameters conditionmet 1 Date Wake up at Report all sensors 12:00 PM daily 2 Time Wake upevery Report all sensors and 2 hours geolocation 3 Temperature Check ifReport all temperature above level temperature sensors and geolocationincreases above 32° F. 4 Door Opened Check if door was Report allsensors and opened geolocation

Referring again to FIG. 8, the contents of the cargo container 123-104may have a high value and a high value alarm profile may be applied inwhich more frequent updates are sent to the asset tracking service 200at the expense of decreased battery life of the mobile transceiver 102.An example of an alarm profile for a high value asset is presented inthe table below.

Alarm Trigger Condition Action(s) when Number Type Parameters conditionmet 1 Time Wake up every 15 Read all sensors and send minutes to server.Get geolocation and send to server. 2 Door Opened Check if door was Readall sensors and send opened to server. Get geolocation and send toserver. 3 Door Closed Check if door was Read all sensors and send closedto server. Get geolocation and send to server. 4 Contents Check ifcontents Read all sensors and send change to server. Get geolocation andsend to server. 5 Movement Check if there is Read all sensors and sendno movement for to server. Get geolocation 5 minutes and send to server.6 Movement Check if there is Read all sensors and send movement after toserver. Get geolocation stop and send to server. 7 Geofence Check ifdevice Read all sensors and send enters defined to server. Getgeolocation geofence and send to server. 8 Geofence Check if device Getlocation and send to exits defined server. geofence

In yet another example, the alarm profile may comprise the alarmspresented in the table below. The alarms in this example also compriseinformation regarding the frequency/count of the alarm type, whether thealarm is enabled or disabled, and whether the particular alarm mayenable another alarm (or itself).

Trigger condition Frequency/ Action(s) when Enable/ No. Alarm Typeparameters Count Enabled condition met Disable 1 Time Wake up everyForever Yes Read all sensors None 5 hours and send to server. Getlocation and send to server. 2 Date Wake up at Forever Yes Read allsensors None 12:00 PM and send to server. Get location and send toserver. Run diagnostics and report results to server. 3 TemperatureWakeup if Once Yes Read all sensors Enable Alarm 4 temperature and sendto increases above server. Get 100° F. location and send to server. 4Temperature Wakeup if Once No Read Enable Alarm 3 temperaturetemperature decreases below sensor and 32° F. send to server. 6 HumidityWakeup if Once Yes Read humidity None humidity and increases abovetemperature 90% sensors and send to server. 7 Movement Wakeup if thereForever Yes Get location None is no movement and send to for 10 minutesserver. 8 Movement Wake up if Forever Yes Get location None movement andsend to greater than 1 server if change mile greater than 5 miles. 9Door Open Wakeup if door Once Yes Read all sensors Enable Alarm 10 wasopened and send to server. Get location and send to server. 10 DoorClose Wakeup if door Once No Read all sensors Enable Alarm 9 was closedand send to server. Get location and send to server. 11 In GeofenceWakeup if Once Yes Read all sensors None within defined and send togeofence server.

FIG. 9B shows an example flowchart of a method 920 of setting anassigned device configuration for a mobile transceiver 102 in accordancewith another example embodiment of the present disclosure. The method920 differs from the method 900 in that it occurs after the mobiletransceiver 102 has connected to the asset tracking service 200 for thefirst time. At 922, the asset tracking service 200 determines whether anew device configuration has been assigned to the mobile transceiver. Ifa new device configuration has been assigned to the mobile transceiver,at 924 it is downloaded, processed and the alarm profile specified bythe new device configuration is set as the active alarm profile, and theactive alarm profile is applied at 926. If a new device configurationhas not been assigned to the mobile transceiver, at 926 the active alarmprofile is applied.

Examples of Alarm Profiles

The alarm manager 428 sets alarms based on the active alarm profile andwhen alarms are triggered, processes the alarms, generates a deviceevent, and sends the device event to the container manager 424 forprocessing. Each alarm profile defines one or more number of alarms. Asdescribed above, each of the alarms are defined by a trigger type, atrigger condition to be satisfied for the alarm to be triggered, and oneor more actions to take when the alarm is triggered. As noted above, thealarm types may be date-based, time-based, sensor-based, location-based(geofence) or a combination thereof. An example alarm profile ispresented in the table below.

Alarm Trigger Condition # Type Parameters Action(s) 1 Time Wake up everyRead all sensors and send to 15 minutes server. Get location and send toserver. 2 Movement Check if there is no Get location and send to server.movement for 5 minutes 3 Movement Check if there is Get location andsend to server. movement after stop 4 Door Check if door was Read allsensors and send to Opened opened server. Get location and send toserver. 5 Door Check if door was Read all sensors and send to Closedclosed server. Get location and send to server. 6 Geofence Check ifdevice enters Read all sensors and send to defined geofence server. 7Geofence Check if device exits Get location and send to server. definedgeofence

There are two sub-types of date-based and time-based alarms. The firsttype is frequency-based which specifies a frequency at which data is tobe measured. An example value for a time-based frequency alarm is every15 minutes. The second type is fixed and specifies a time and/or date atwhich the condition parameters for the alarm are checked. An examplevalue for the frequency alarm is 12:00 PM every day.

The sensor-based alarms are defined based on the capabilities of themobile transceiver 102, e.g. the onboard sensors 130. The sensor-basedalarms may include temperature, humidity, pressure, movement detection,location, location within or with respect to a specific geofence, dooropen or closed condition, etc. A geofence is a virtual perimeter definedby a particular geographic area using geo-spatial coordinates, such asLatitude and Longitude, used by the satellite receiver 120. A geofencemay be fixed or dynamically generated, for example, a radius around aparticular point location. The geofence may be a predefined set ofboundaries, or may be a set of zones or areas which need not beadjacent.

The location-based alarms (or geofence alarms) are based on the locationof the mobile transceiver 102 determined by the satellite transceiver120.

An alarm may be a one-time alarm, a countdown alarm, or a recurring(“forever”) alarm. One-time alarms and countdown type alarms aredisabled once the alarm happens or the countdown timer reaches zero. Adisabled alarm may be enabled by other alarms.

A non-exhaustive list of alarm types is provided in the table below.

Alarm Type Example Notes Time interval Wake up at a given time Specifiedin minutes. interval. For example, If a countdown number is specified,it every hour. is decremented every time this alarm is May include aninitial triggered. When it reaches zero, the countdown number. alarm isdisabled in volatile memory. If the device re-starts or a deviceconfiguration is reloaded from the asset tracking service the counter isreset. Time of Day Wake up at a given time Specified in 24 hr timehh:mm:ss of day. For example, at format and UTC time. Can be specified12:00 PM. as number of seconds since day start, UTC time. Calendar TimeWake up at a specific Specified in time hh:mm:ss format and date andtime. For dd:mm:yyyy date format and UTC example, at 12:00 PM time. Canbe specified as number of on May 5, 2015. seconds in UTC time. Dooropens Wake up if door is opened. Detection of a door open event mayinvolve one or more sensors. Triggered when the door is opened and itwas previously closed. If the door remains open there are no additionaltriggers. Door closes Wake up if door is closed. Detection of a doorclose event may involve one or more sensors. Triggered when the door isclosed and it was previously open. If the door remains closed there areno additional triggers. Door opens Wake up if door is Check currentlocation before alarm action and in opened and device is not isexecuted. geolocation within a geolocation Significant Wake up if thereis a Time in minutes. If this alarm is movement movement for moretriggered, the movement timer for this detected than the listed numberalarm is reset and the next alarm may of minutes. happen only afterlisted number of minutes occurs again. No movement Wake up if there is ano Time in minutes. If this alarm is detected (stop) movement for moretriggered, the stop timer for this alarm than the listed number is resetand the next alarm may of minutes. happen only after listed number ofminutes occurs again. Tilt detected Wake up if there is tilt Triggeredwhen the tilt is detected. If movement above a tilted state remains,there are no hardcoded threshold. additional triggers. Temperature Thetemperature is In degrees Celsius. Triggered when above value above agiven value. temperature increases above listed value. If temperatureremains above trigger, there are no additional alarms. Temperature Thetemperature is In degrees Celsius. Triggered when below value below agiven value. temperature decreases below listed value. If temperatureremains below trigger, there are no additional alarms. Humidity Thehumidity is above a In percentage value. Triggered when above valuegiven percentage value. the humidity increases above listed value. Ifhumidity remains above trigger, there are no additional alarms. HumidityThe humidity is below a In percentage value. Triggered when below valuegiven percentage value. the humidity decreases below listed value. Ifhumidity remains below trigger, there are no additional alarms. Lightlevel The light level is above a In lumens value. Triggered when theabove value given value. light level increases above listed value. If helight level remains above trigger, there are no additional alarms. Lightlevel The light level is below a In lumens value. Triggered when thebelow value given value. light level decreases below listed value. If helight level remains below trigger, there are no additional alarms.Pressure The pressure is above a In kPa units. Triggered only when abovevalue given value. pressure increases above listed value. If he pressureremains above trigger, there are no additional alarms. Pressure Thepressure level is In kPa units. Triggered only when below value below agiven value. pressure decreases below listed value. If he pressureremains below trigger, there are no additional alarms. ContainerDetected that container Condition is either occupied or vacant, Vacantis vacant (empty). nothing in between. Triggered only when change fromoccupied to vacant. If container remains vacant, there are no additionalalarms. Uses ToF sensor. Container Detected that container Condition iseither occupied or vacant, Occupied is occupied (full). nothing inbetween. Triggered only when change from vacant to occupied. Ifcontainer remains occupied, there are no additional alarms. Uses ToFsensor. Battery The battery charge Battery charge value in percentage.charge percentage is below a Triggered when the battery charge belowgiven value percentage decreases below listed percentage value. Ifcharge percentage remains below trigger, there are no additional alarms.Enter Detect if geofence was Specified as geofence name listed ingeofence entered. geofence section of the configuration. Triggered onlywhen geofence is entered. No additional alarms are triggered whileinside the geofence. Exit Detect if geofence was Specified as geofencename listed in geofence exited. geofence section of the configuration.Triggered only when geofence is exited. No additional alarms aretriggered while outside the geofence. Door opens Wake up if door is Mustcheck if device is inside geofence and in opened and device is beforethe alarm action is executed. If geofence inside a given geofence.inside geofence treated as a door open alarm. Otherwise, the alarm isignored. Door opens Wake up if door is Must check if device is outsideand not in opened and device is geofence before the alarm action isgeofence outside a given geofence executed. If outside geofence treatedas a door open alarm. Otherwise, the alarm is ignored.

Alarm actions are actions to be performed when an alarm has beentriggered. Alarm actions typically comprise gathering data and/orsending the data to the asset tracking service 200. The alarm actionstypically specify the type of data to gather and/or the data to transmitto the asset tracking service 200 but may include other actions such asrunning diagnostics, changing the operating state of the mobiletransceiver 102 or enabling or disabling an alarm in an alarm profile,etc. A non-exhaustive list of alarm actions is provided in the tablebelow.

Alarm Action Description All sensors and Read all sensors and getgeolocation and report geolocation values. Geolocation Read GNSSlocation and report coordinates. Temperature Read Temperature sensor andreport temperature. Humidity Read Humidity sensor and report humidity.Altimeter Read Altimeter sensor and report altimeter value. PressureRead Pressure sensor and report value. Tilt Read tilt sensor and reporttilt state, which may be tilted or not tilted. Movement Get movementdelta value in minutes. Capacity Read capacity. Either vacant oroccupied. Container Read time of flight sensor and report containercontents contents status. Could be empty, full, half-full, etc. Doorstatus Get door state. Either open or closed. Geolocation Read GNSSlocation and report geolocation coordinates. None No action taken. Ingeofence Read GNSS location and determine if device is within any of theconfigured geofences.

If the geolocation is an alarm action, but the geolocation is notobtained after a timeout period, the location is sent to the assettracking service 200 with a value of “not available” to indicate to theasset tracking service 200 that it could not be obtained.

Application of Alarm Profiles

FIGS. 10 and 11 illustrate example methods 950, 970 of operating amobile transceiver 102 such as a GNSS tracking device in accordance withone example embodiment of the present disclosure. The method may becarried out by software executed by a processor 104 of the mobiletransceiver 102. Coding of software for carrying out such methods iswithin the scope of a person of ordinary skill in the art provided thepresent disclosure. The methods may contain additional or fewerprocesses than shown and/or described, and may be performed in adifferent order in other embodiments. Machine readable code executableby the processor to perform the methods may be stored in a machinereadable medium such as a memory of the mobile transceiver 102.

Referring first to FIG. 10, at 952, the mobile transceiver 102 enters alow power mode, such as a sleep mode. The mobile transceiver 102 is in asleep mode much of the time to conserve power and wakes up in responseto alarms.

At 954, the mobile transceiver 102 monitors for one or more triggerconditions for one or more alarms in the active alarm profile while in alow power mode, such as a sleep mode. At 956, the mobile transceiver 102determines whether a trigger condition has occurred. When interrupts areused, this step may be omitted. As noted above, the RTC 160 and at leastsome of the sensors 130 produce interrupts based on the programmedtriggers which wakeup the processor 104. Sensors which do not produceinterrupts cannot wakeup the processor 104. Instead, such sensors, whenassociated with an enabled alarm of the active alarm profile, are polledevery time the processor 104 wakes up due to any of the other alarmtypes.

When a trigger condition is detected, at 958 the processor 104 wakes upafter a period of inactivity in response to the alarm. The processor 104typically wakes up from a sleep mode in which the processor 104 and oneor both of the cellular transceiver 114 or satellite receiver 120 werein a low power mode. Typically, the cellular transceiver 114 orsatellite receiver 120 are slept at 958 until the processor 104determines that the cellular transceiver 114 or satellite receiver 120are to be used.

At 960, the mobile transceiver 102 determines one or more actions to beperformed in response to the alarm. The actions may include one or moreof obtaining data from the satellite receiver 120 and/or one or moresensors 130, reporting obtained data to the asset tracking service 200,or enabling/disabling one or more other alarms in the active alarmprofile.

At 962, the determined actions are performed. Referring to FIG. 11, theprocessing of alarm actions in accordance with one example embodiment ofthe present disclosure will be described. At 972, when the actionsspecified by the alarm(s) which triggered the wakeup includes measuredata using the satellite receiver 120 and/or sensors 130, the mobiletransceiver 102 performs the data logging (acquisition) specified by thealarm.

Data logging may comprise determining its location and/or sensing itsenvironment using the sensors 130. As a preliminary step, when thegeolocation is to be obtained, the satellite receiver 120 is activatedfrom a low power mode, which may be performed by the main processor 104or the baseband processor 304, depending on the embodiment. Similarly,any sensors 130 to be used which were in a low power mode are activated.

At 974, the obtained geolocation and/or sensor data is stored in memory112, in the asset tracking log, typically in association with a time atwhich the data was obtained.

At 976, when the action in response to the alarm which triggered thewake up in 702 includes reported data to the asset tracking service 200,the mobile transceiver 102 wakes up the wireless transceiver to be used,for example, the cellular transceiver 113. As a preliminary step, thewireless transceiver, e.g. cellular transceiver 114, is activated from alow power mode, which may be performed by the main processor 104 or thebaseband processor

At 978, the mobile transceiver 102 determines whether a wireless signalfor the cellular transceiver 114 is available. When a wireless signal isavailable, processing proceeds to 980 at which the mobile transceiver102 selects and accesses, or connects to, the wireless service, andsends the obtained geolocation and/or sensor data to the asset trackingservice 200 using the wireless service.

At 982, when a wireless signal is not available, the obtainedgeolocation and/or sensor data is queued to send to the asset trackingservice 200 the next time it connects, whether wirelessly by thewireless transceiver or wired by connection to a computing device 240.

Returning again to FIG. 10, at 964, after the mobile transceiver 102 hasperformed the actions specified by the triggered alarm, the mobiletransceiver 102 enters a low power mode (e.g., sleep mode) in which theprocessor 104, cellular transceiver 114, satellite receiver 120 andpossibly one or more sensors 130 are slept.

While the sending of obtained geolocation and/or sensor data isdescribed, it will be appreciated that the full asset tracking log orportions thereof may be sent, not just the geolocation and/or sensordata that was obtained in 962.

The methods 900, 920, 950 and 970, 990 and 995 may be combined. Forexample, the mobile transceiver 102 may receive a new deviceconfiguration and new alarm profile any time it connects to the assettracking service 200.

FIG. 12A shows an example flowchart of a method 990 of configuring amobile transceiver 102 such as a GNSS tracking device in accordance withone example embodiment of the present disclosure. The method may becarried out by software executed by a processor of the mobiletransceiver 102. Coding of software for carrying out such a method 990is within the scope of a person of ordinary skill in the art providedthe present disclosure. The method 990 may contain additional or fewerprocesses than shown and/or described, and may be performed in adifferent order in other embodiments. Machine readable code executableby the processor to perform the method 990 may be stored in a machinereadable medium such as a memory of the mobile transceiver 102.

At 991, an asset condition of the asset to which the mobile transceiver102 is attached is determined based on the device ID of the mobiletransceiver 102.

At 992, an alarm profile comprising one or more alarms is assigned tothe mobile transceiver 102 based on the determined asset condition atthe asset tracking server, for example, based on user input via theweb-based portal. The assigned alarm profile is stored in memory of theasset tracking server, such as in the asset database, in associationwith the device ID of a respective mobile transceiver 102.

At 993, a device configuration file containing the assigned alarmprofile is downloaded onto the mobile transceiver 102 when the mobiletransceiver 102 next connects to the asset tracking service 200. Examplemethods of setting an assigned device configuration containing anassigned alarm profile in which the assigned alarm profile is downloadedonto the mobile transceiver 102 are provided above.

FIG. 12B shows an example flowchart of a method 995 of configuring amobile transceiver 102 such as a GNSS tracking device in accordance withanother example embodiment of the present disclosure.

At 996, a travel mode associated with the mobile transceiver 102 isdetermined based on the device ID of the mobile transceiver 102.

At 997, an alarm profile comprising one or more alarms is assigned tothe mobile transceiver 102 based on the determined travel mode at theasset tracking server, for example, based on user input via theweb-based portal. The assigned alarm profile is stored in memory of theasset tracking server, such as in the asset database, in associationwith the device ID of a respective mobile transceiver 102.

At 998, a device configuration file containing the assigned alarmprofile is downloaded onto the mobile transceiver 102 when the mobiletransceiver 102 next connects to the asset tracking service 200. Examplemethods of setting an assigned device configuration containing anassigned alarm profile in which the assigned alarm profile is downloadedonto the mobile transceiver 102 are provided above.

The steps and/or operations in the flowcharts and drawings describedherein are for purposes of example only. There may be many variations tothese steps and/or operations without departing from the teachings ofthe present disclosure. For instance, the steps may be performed in adiffering order, or steps may be added, deleted, or modified.

While the present disclosure is described, at least in part, in terms ofmethods, a person of ordinary skill in the art will understand that thepresent disclosure is also directed to the various components forperforming at least some of the aspects and features of the describedmethods, be it by way of hardware components, software or anycombination of the two, or in any other manner. Moreover, the presentdisclosure is also directed to a pre-recorded storage device or othersimilar machine readable medium including program instructions storedthereon for performing the methods described herein.

The present disclosure may be embodied in other specific forms withoutdeparting from the subject matter of the claims. The described exampleembodiments are to be considered in all respects as being onlyillustrative and not restrictive. The present disclosure intends tocover and embrace all suitable changes in technology. The scope of thepresent disclosure is, therefore, described by the appended claimsrather than by the foregoing description. The scope of the claims shouldnot be limited by the embodiments set forth in the examples, but shouldbe given the broadest interpretation consistent with the description asa whole.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method of operating a mobile transceiver,comprising: wirelessly sending by a wireless transceiver of the mobiletransceiver to a remote server of an asset tracking service a messageincluding a device identifier (ID) of the mobile transceiver; wirelesslyreceiving by the wireless transceiver of the mobile transceiver from theremote server of the asset tracking service an alarm profile assigned tothe device ID of the mobile transceiver in response to the message,wherein the alarm profile defines a plurality of alarms, each alarmincluding a trigger condition and one or more actions to be taken by themobile transceiver in response to detection of the trigger condition,wherein the one or more actions comprise acquiring sensor data,reporting sensor data to the asset tracking service or a combinationthereof; storing by a processor of the mobile transceiver the alarmprofile in a memory of the mobile transceiver; and applying by theprocessor of the mobile transceiver the alarm profile to configure theoperation of the mobile transceiver.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereineach of the alarms is date-based, time-based, sensor-based,location-based or a combination thereof.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein applying the alarm profile comprises: monitoring for one or moretrigger conditions of the plurality of alarms in the alarm profile;waking up a processor from a low power mode in response to detecting oneof the trigger conditions; identifying an alarm which was triggeredbased on the detected trigger condition by comparing the detectedtrigger condition to the alarms defined in the alarm profile;determining one or more actions to be performed based on the identifiedalarm; and performing the determined one or more actions associated withthe identified alarm.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein performing thedetermined one or more actions associated with the identified alarmcomprises: enabling or disabling one or more of the alarms on the alarmprofile.
 5. The method of claim 3, further comprising: beforemonitoring, initiating a low power mode for a main processor andwireless transceiver of the mobile transceiver.
 6. The method of claim3, wherein performing the determined one or more actions associated withthe identified alarm comprises: activating a satellite receiver from alow power mode; determining a geolocation using the satellite receiver;and storing the geolocation in the memory of the mobile transceiver. 7.The method of claim 6, wherein performing the determined one or moreactions associated with the identified alarm comprises: activating thewireless receiver from the low power mode; connecting to the assettracking service via the wireless transceiver; and sending thegeolocation to the asset tracking service.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein performing the determined one or more actions associated withthe identified alarm comprises: acquiring sensor data using one or moresensors; and storing the sensor data in the memory of the mobiletransceiver.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein performing the determinedone or more actions associated with the identified alarm comprises:activating the wireless receiver from the low power mode; connecting tothe asset tracking service via the wireless transceiver; sending thesensor data to the asset tracking service.
 10. The method of claim 8,further comprising: before acquiring sensor data, activating at leastsome of the one or more sensors from a low power mode.
 11. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the alarm profile is determined by the remote server ofthe asset tracking service based on an asset type of an asset to whichthe mobile transceiver is attached.
 12. The method of claim 11, whereinthe asset type specifies a cargo type or vehicle type.
 13. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the asset type is one of oil truck, milk truck,service truck, freight truck, taxi/limo, rental car, intermodalcontainer, crate, tank container, gas tank, insulated shippingcontainer, flexible intermediate bulk container, or intermediate bulkcontainer.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the alarm profile isdetermined by the remote server of the asset tracking service based onan asset content of an asset to which the mobile transceiver isattached.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the asset content is oneof refrigerated container, non-refrigerated container, high valuecontainer or low value container.
 16. The method of claim 14, whereinthe asset content is one of refrigerated, non-refrigerated, perishable,dry good cargo, farm produce, construction materials, logging goods,oil, weapons, aviation contents, flammable liquids, liquid hydrogen orother super cooled liquids, poisonous materials/liquids, radioactivematerials, explosive, radioactive, confidential documents, poisonous,flammable, perishable, dry goods, or logs/woods.
 17. The method of claim1, wherein the alarm profile is determined by the remote server of theasset tracking service based on an asset value of an asset to which themobile transceiver is attached.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein theasset value is one of high value or low value.
 19. The method of claim1, wherein the alarm profile is determined by the remote server of theasset tracking service based on a driver rating of a driver of a vehiclecarrying an asset to the mobile transceiver is attached.
 20. The methodof claim 1, wherein the alarm profile is determined by the remote serverof the asset tracking service based on a mode of transportation beingused to transport an asset to the mobile transceiver is attached.
 21. Amobile transceiver, comprising: a processor; a satellite receivercoupled to the processor; and a wireless transceiver coupled to theprocessor; a memory coupled to the processor, the memory storingexecutable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause themobile transceiver to: wirelessly send by the wireless transceiver to aremote server of an asset tracking service a message including a deviceidentifier (ID) of the mobile transceiver; wirelessly receive by thewireless transceiver from the remote server of the asset trackingservice an alarm profile assigned to the device ID of the mobiletransceiver in response to the message, wherein the alarm profiledefines a plurality of alarms, each alarm including a trigger conditionand one or more actions to be taken by the mobile transceiver inresponse to detection of the trigger condition, wherein the one or moreactions comprise acquiring sensor data, reporting sensor data to theasset tracking service or a combination thereof; store by the processorthe alarm profile in a memory of the mobile transceiver; and apply bythe processor the alarm profile to configure the operation of the mobiletransceiver.
 22. A non-transitory machine readable medium havingtangibly stored thereon executable instructions for execution by aprocessor of a mobile transceiver, the mobile transceiver comprising thenon-transitory machine readable medium, a satellite receiver, andwireless transceiver each coupled to the processor, wherein theexecutable instructions, when executed by the processor, cause themobile transceiver to: wirelessly send by the wireless transceiver to aremote server of an asset tracking service a message including a deviceidentifier (ID) of the mobile transceiver; wirelessly receive by thewireless transceiver from the remote server of the asset trackingservice an alarm profile assigned to the device ID of the mobiletransceiver in response to the message, wherein the alarm profiledefines a plurality of alarms, each alarm including a trigger conditionand one or more actions to be taken by the mobile transceiver inresponse to detection of the trigger condition, wherein the one or moreactions comprise acquiring sensor data, reporting sensor data to theasset tracking service or a combination thereof; store by the processorthe alarm profile in a memory of the mobile transceiver; and apply bythe processor the alarm profile to configure the operation of the mobiletransceiver.